Dies



Nov. 24, 1925 7 1,563,124 J. R. WALD Filed July 10, 1925 .FIG.1

FIG. 4 6

INVENTOR iP a'tented Nov. 24', 1925. I I 1 UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFER JOHN B. WALD, or ANAMosA, Iowa.

DIES.

application filed July 10, 1925. Serial No. 42,704.

To all whom it may concern:

Be ,it known that 1, JOHN R. WAno, a citizen of the United States, and a resldent of Anamosa, in the county .of Jones and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Dies; and .1 do

hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to improvements in die structures, and particularly to dies such as'are' employed for stamping automobile license plates and the like, although it'is, of course, susceptible of use in other relations.

One ob ect of my invention 1s to provide.

die holders that possess the advantages both of cooperating pwoted die holders or blocks, and of those structures wherein the die holders are moved toward one another in straight lines. 1

Another object. of my invention is to provide improved means for supporting and guiding the die holders.

Still another object of my invention is to simplify and improve generally the structure and operation of dies and die holders.

One form which my invention may take is shown in the accompanying drawing.

wherein Fig. 1 is a front elevational View of a portion of a die member containing my improved die holders; Fig. 2 is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of one of the die holders; Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the die liolderin open position, and

.' Fig. 4; is a view thereof in closed or stamp ing posltion. Heretofore die holders have been pivoted so as to'have relative movement about a fixed axis, but as this arrangement neces-' sltates movement to closed position through arcuate paths, there has been. a tendency to crowd or push the license plate from stamping position, since the inner edge thereof is engaged by the downwardly moving die, previous to the complete closing of the dies. In other structures, the one die holder has been mounted on the bottom -plate of the press and the otlier holder mounted upon a vertically movable plunge-r for movement toward and away from the bottom die holder. This latter arrangement presents difficulty in the way of guiding the dies into proper registry and conveniently changing the same, as well as possessing other objectionable features.

For purposes of illustration I have shown my dies as applied to 'apress 5 having a bottom plate or anvil 6 and a vertically movable plunger 7 The parts named may be of any ordinary or suitable form.

The die'holder comprisesa bottom member8, which is provided with a handle .9,

V and a top member 10. A female die ll-has held in expanded position by a spring 17..

The die holders are provided with rednced portions 18 that restwithin curved recesses in a plate 19 that is bolted to the front of the press. The inner end of the die block 10 is beveled at its corners 20 to fit complementally shaped portions at the rear side of the anvil 6. The die holders are thus held ini'perfect alignment with the anvil and with one another. The dies as shown, in Fig. 1 are opened ready to receive one or a pair of metal license plates 21, it

being sometimes convenient to stamp both the front and rear plates at a single operation. It will be understood that the die holders are changed, one by one, to effect the proper sequence in numbering at successive operations of the press.

The reduced portions 18 may be omitted from the die holders and such holders main tained in alignment by contact with adjacent holders, or' in any other desired manner. In cases where a blank space is desired between ad acent numbers, a 7 blank die holder may be insertedin such space.

The hinge connection of the die holders permits of a flared opening therebetween, as shown more clearly in Figs 2 and 3," so that the license plates may be readily inserted for stamping. Upon downward movement of the plunger 7 the die holder 10 is brought first into parallelism with the holder 8 and thereafter, by reason of the slot 16, is moved in a vertical line so that it will contact with a license plate upon thetop face thereof, instead of first engaging only the rear edge. The die holder 10 is guided in its downward movement both by the pin 14 and the cooperating shouldered portions of the two holders.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I provide an arrangement whereby the die holders can be quickly and accurately placed in proper position in the press, wherein the parts of the holder are so connected as to have relative movement both pivotally-and rectilinearly, and which'may be handled as a unit instead of separately.

I claim as my invention: 1. Die structure comprising a bottom holder and a top holder normally held in expanded position and having a pin-andslot connection therebetween.

2. Die structure comprising a bottom holder and a top holder having-pin-andslot connection adjacent to one end thereof, and a spring interposed between their ends for normally maintaining them in expanded positio p 3. Die structure comprising a bottom holder having an upwardly extending shoulder at its rear end, a top holder connected to said bottom holder and having a downwardly extending shoulder portion dis osed behind'said shoulder, and a pin-an -slot connection permitting relative vertical movement of said holders.

4. Die structure comprising a bottom holder having an upwardly extending shoulder at its rear end, a top holder connected to said bottom holder and having a downwardly extending shoulder portion disposed behind said shoulder, and a connection permitting relative vertical movement of said holders, the shouldered portion of the upper die holder being provided with a guiding surface at its rear side, by means of which it may be accurately positioned within a die press.

5. Die structure comprising a bottom holder having an upwardlyextending shoul- 1 der at its rear end, a top holder connected to said bottom holder and having a downwardly extending shoulder portion disposed behind said shoulder, and a connection permitting relative vertical movement of said holders, the shouldered ortion of the upper die holder being provi ed with a guiding surface at its rear side, by means of which it may be accurately positioned within a die press, and the bottom holder being provided with a guiding surface adjacent. to its front end, for cooperation with a complementary surface of a die press.

In testimony whereof I, the said JOHN R. WALD, have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN R. WALD. 

